“Did they ... ” Scrum swallowed hard, “touch you ... anywhere.”
I punched him hard on the arm. “No questions allowed, perve. Storytime is over.” I stood up to go, my appetite gone. “I’m going to check emails. Tony, are you coming?”
“Sure. Where’s Tim by the way?”
“He’s sleeping in. Apparently my personal trauma kept him up, and he needs his beauty rest.”
“Oh. Okay. It’ll just be you and me then.”
I smiled. “Like old times.”
He smiled back. “Yeah. Like the good old days. Before we were fae.”
“Yeah. Before I had any girl-on-girl in the bathroom action.”
Tony laughed at that. “Traumatized, eh?”
“Seriously, Tony. Those bitches were hardcore. They were going to eat me, but only after sucking me into a dried up husk-of-a-fae. I’m afraid of what they’re going to do to Spike. I hope he has Valentine with him when he meets them for the first time.”
“Don’t worry about Spike,” said Tony as we walked down the hall, “I have a feeling he can fend for himself.”
We reached the computer room and fired up our accounts. I had a reply but he didn’t.
“My email went out a lot later than yours. Maybe I’ll get an answer later. What does yours say?”
I clicked on the link and started reading out loud.
Jayne. Its Rick. Your moms reel bad. She had an accident. You need to get hear soon. I dont know how long shes gonna last. Shes asking for you. Come quick. Before its to late.
“Idiot. Can’t even fucking spell.”
“Jayne, this is serious.”
“I know.” I started wringing my hands, freaking out. I turned away from the screen to look at Tony. “What do you think I should do? Should I try to call her first? Should I just go? Who should go with me?”
“Let’s go talk to Dardennes, right now.” Tony clicked out of his account and shut the computer down. “Come on.” He held out his hand to me.
I logged off and stood up, taking Tony’s warm hand in mine. I didn’t let it go the entire way to Dardennes’ office. I fought back the tears that threatened to come, thinking about my mom having been in an accident. I’d be willing to bet my trusty weapon, Blackie, that any accident my mom may have suffered was at the hands of Rick. He was just that type of guy. And if he’d hurt my mom, he was going to pay. I was just the girl to make him, too.
Chapter 16
Tony knocked three times and then pushed open the door. Dardennes was sitting at his desk, joined by Céline who sat next to him. They both had dinner plates in front of them and were going over some documents laid in front of them.
“Good evening, changelings. What brings you back to my office so soon? More emails?”
“Yes,” said Tony, getting right down to business, as we stopped in front of Dardennes’ desk. “Actually, just Jayne received one. This time it was from her ... uh ... step-father.”
I gritted my teeth together, nearly growling out, “Don’t call him that. He’s my mother’s loser husband.”
“And what did the email say?” asked Dardennes, politely ignoring my psychosis.
I took over to answer, “It said my mom’s been in an accident and she’s dying.”
“Oh, my goodness,” said Céline, “that’s terrible.” She looked very concerned, which made me like her even more. She really was a nice person ... fae.
“Yes. The only problem is, I don’t know if it’s true or not. And if it is, I’m willing to bet just about anything it was her asshole husband that caused her to have an accident. He’s a violent person with zero morals – total sociopath.”
“This is a problem,” said Dardennes, deep in thought from the looks on his face. “Of course you must return, in the event that this is unfortunate true news of your mother. Walking the Gray will not help us – we cannot depend on a clouded and skewed version of what’s really happening – we need to know the reality of the situation. But of course, we cannot have you going back into something that was designed to get you there.”
“What are you thinking, Anton?” asked Céline.
“I’m considering sending her with a contingent of fae – a few we can afford to spare right now.”
“I’m not going without Chase,” I said emphatically.
Céline looked at me with pity. “Jayne, you know that’s not possible. He’s Dark Fae now.”
“Yeah, but I’ve talked to him recently. I know he’ll come.”
Dardennes raised an eyebrow at this, looking at Céline to see if she had the same reaction. She was just as surprised as he was. I guessed from this interaction that news of my escapades from yesterday had not yet made it out to the rumor mill.
“And how did you get in touch with him?” he asked.
“Through Becky,” I said, hesitantly, realizing I should have probably come and reported all this to them as soon as we got back, especially the Becky part.
“Explain, Jayne,” said Dardennes, a shadow moving across his face.
“Yeah ... uh ... sorry about that. I really should have mentioned it before. I guess we got kind of distracted.”
“Yes,” he agreed, still waiting for the explanation.
“Okay, so a few of us went into the forest to get in touch with Chase yesterday. And we ended up contacting Becky instead. She came and talked to us, telling us how she hadn’t been killed, just injured by a witch who doesn’t know her asshole from a hole in the ground ... ”
My explanation was interrupted by Dardennes clearing his throat and raising his eyebrows, but I soldiered on, ignoring his whatever it was – admonition maybe.
“... And so Becky’s in the clinic over there for a few more days before she joins us here again. She’s not Dark Fae or anything – she’s just using their medical care. And Chase said he’s coming back too. When his treatment is over and when he’s ... um ... finished with some other business.”
Now Céline was giving me ‘the look’. All adults seem to be able to do this completely without effort.
I sighed heavily. “Okay, more shit I probably should have told you yesterday. I’m glad you’re sitting down. So, turns out, Chase is from the Overworld. At least that’s what he says. He’s here to stop an uprising of the Underworld or some such nonsense I’m not exactly sure I understand or believe. All those orcs we’ve been seeing – and yeah, before you go off on me, I have seen a couple more of them and it’s totally my fault you don’t know and I forgot to tell you – well, supposedly these orcs are only the beginning of all the bad demon-types we’re going to be seeing around here. Chase is trying to work with the Dark Fae to get them to see reason ... then he’s coming back here to work on convincing you guys.”
I stopped for a breath and a reality check. I couldn’t tell from their faces whether they were mad, sad, or anything in between. I sucked at reading silver elf minds. I wondered if Tony could. He was pretty damn good at reading mine.
Tony started talking next, filling the uncomfortable silence. “I was going to speak to the gray elves about it this evening, actually. I’m not sure how much of Chase’s story I believe, but I think it’s worth looking into. I am quite sure that Chase believed what he was saying, if my empath skills were working properly.”
Céline looked at Dardennes and he nodded at her. She began speaking. “We have heard some things similar to what you are saying now – that Chase has expressed to you; however, we consider the more immediate concern, the one involving the Dark Fae attacking our people, to be of greater importance right now. Therefore, for the time being, that will be our focus. But of course we would welcome Chase or Becky back into our midst, so long as they are able to pass the test of loyalty when they return.”
“Test? What kind of test? Like a lie detector?”
“Yes. In a way,” said Céline. “We just need to be sure we are not taking any spies into our midst. You understand, I’m sure.”
“Sure,” I said, nodding, looking over to Tony t
o confirm his agreement. He seemed to be of the same mind. “I totally agree with that. I know Chase is one of the good guys. I’m not worried about it.”
“So you believe you can convince Chase to go back to Florida with you?” asked Dardennes.
“Yes.”
Dardennes looked to Céline again. “Who else could we spare?”
“Why not the twins?”
My face broke out in a look of horror. “You can’t possibly be serious!”
Dardennes and Céline both looked at me, confusion on their faces.
“You’re talking about the twins who almost sucked me dry last night, right? Or are there other twins around here not being talked about by every single fae male in a five mile radius?”
“No,” answered Dardennes, “there is only one set of twins in the compound at this time. Two succubi from California.”
“Yeah. Okay. No thanks. You can keep those bitches way the hell away from me,” I said emphatically.
“Jayne!” laughed out Céline involuntarily, “Please, don’t be so ... quick to judge.” She immediately got herself back under control with a little cough and throat clearing.
“Have you ever been attacked by two playboy bunnies with a craving for a Céline energy cocktail? No, I think not. Otherwise you wouldn’t be suggesting I take them with me. No friggin’ way. I’d rather take Gorm than them.”
“You cannot. He eats humans.”
“Yeah. I know. That’s what I mean. I’d rather have a cannibal with me than a couple of So-Cal, spirit-sucking psycho-cheerleaders. Maybe he could eat my mother’s husband and save me the trouble of blasting him to hell and back.”
Dardennes smiled. “I will assure your safety and the safety of the others who are travelling with you. I believe the twins are your best offense and defense. If you were to run into trouble, I’m certain they could assist you better than anyone – other than your daemon of course.”
“What about Jared? I could take two daemons with me instead of two cheerleaders.”
“Jared is busy recruiting. We do not expect him back for another week.”
I hadn’t seen him in what seemed like ages, so I knew they were telling the truth.
“How about some witches? How about Valentine? How about Niles, for crying out loud? Anyone else. You have no idea how much shit I’m going to get from everyone, going on a trip with them.”
“What do you mean?”
I shook my head, resigned. I really didn’t want to have to explain the humiliation of the fae-gone-wild rumors that Finn and Spike were only too happy to spread. “Never mind. Who else can I take?”
“We could probably spare one green elf as well. Tony, I assume you will want to go?”
Tony nodded his assent.
“Okay, so I have Tony, Chase, the twins, and Finn.” I looked over to verify with Finn that he was with us and he nodded, so I continued, “You think that’s good enough?”
“We’d like to send more, but we have problems to manage here and many other fae joining us who need to be brought up to speed with our plans.” Céline shared a look with Dardennes before continuing. “Would you like me to go, Jayne?”
“Can you fight?”
Céline shrugged. “I’ve been known to lift a sword on occasion.”
“Seriously?” I looked at Céline with newfound respect. “Okay. You can come. Bring the sword. Your biggest, sharpest one.” She’d be able to keep those damn twins away from me and possibly stab Rick the Dick – or maybe even cut off his protruding parts. I was feeling better already.
“I will get the plane ready. Anton, can you please speak with the twins for me?”
“It will be my pleasure.”
I nudged Tony. “I need you to get in touch with Chase. Can you do it?”
“Yes. Come on. Let’s go do it now.”
“Please meet us by the airplane door in three hours,” said Céline, all business now. “We should be able to get the flight plan filed and the plane fueled by that time. Luckily, a group of Light Fae just landed, so the jet is warmed up. We just have to find our back-up pilots since the ones who just flew are already too near their daily maximum flying hours.”
“I’ll take care of all of those details and of notifying the council. Céline, you go gather your things.” Dardennes nodded at Tony and me as he strode from the room. Céline was on his heels, her long cloak swishing around her legs.
“Come on,” said Tony, grabbing my hand. We ran from the room and down the hall, the Infinity Meadow our destination.
As soon as we were outside, Tony dropped to the ground to sit cross-legged. “Okay, take my hand and think of Chase as hard as you can. Anything about him will work.”
I sat across from him and grabbed his hand, focusing on my memories of Chase. The Green snuck in a little and lent a feeling of fantasy world around it all. I thought of his strong arms, his Adonis-like face, his loyalty to me. I remembered him like he was – stoic and calm in the face of any situation – and I remembered him like he is now – talkative, expressive, and full of what I hoped was desire for me. I tried not to let my sexier thoughts intrude, but it was nearly impossible. I decided not to try and block them, since I really needed Tony to be able to reach him. Tony squeezed my hand as images of Chase without his shirt on flitted across my mind. I whispered, “Sorry,” under my breath, but kept going. I remembered what it had felt like when Chase picked me up inside the Dark Fae compound after I’d been beaten and tortured – how safe it felt there. And I thought about the secrets he’d shared with me yesterday and what it could mean for us in the future.
Tony dropped my hand, pulling me out of my internal movie line. “It’s done. I reached him. He’s on his way.”
“Is he coming here?”
“Yep. All we have to do is wait.”
I smiled at him, squeezing his knee. “Do you have any idea how cool that is? That you can just walk between realms and find people like that? Talk to them?”
Tony grinned back at me. “Yeah. It is pretty awesome. I wish some of my friends from computer club could see it. They would totally go nuts.”
“I know. It’s like one of your computer game worlds come to life. You’re like a walking avatar guy.”
“You’re right.” Tony reached down absently and started picking blades of grass. “So, those things you were thinking about ... to help me find Chase ... ”
I sighed. “Tony, please don’t embarrass me.”
“I’m not. Seriously. I’m just ... I don’t know. Worried about you.”
“How so?” I couldn’t believe that he didn’t trust Chase, if that was what he was getting at.
“Well, you said that Chase told you he’s not from here. That he’s here for a purpose.”
“Yeah. So?”
“So, what happens when he’s done with that purpose?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. He hangs out? Protects my sorry ass. Why? Do you know?”
“Well, no, not really. But I have suspicions. Ones I’m not sure you’re going to like.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What kind of suspicions?”
“The kind that mean he’s not going to stick around after all’s said and done.”
“Why would you think that?” I demanded, on the defense. “He’s totally loyal.”
“No, no, I know that. I’m not saying he’s not. It’s just that ... never mind. Forget I said anything.”
“No way, Tony Baloney, no fair saying half of some bullshit and then backing out. You’re in too deep now. Tell me or else.”
He smiled almost politely. “Or else what?”
“Or else suffer my wrath.”
He held up his fingers and wiggled them around. “Ooooo, the wrath of Jayne. Scary.”
I pulled some of The Green from the ground beneath me, showing it in my eyes so Tony could see how serious I was. Not that I’d blast him or anything, but I thought maybe the glowy-eye thing might be impressive at the very least.
“Okay, okay,
spooky-eye girl, put it away. I’ll finish.”
“Damn straight you will. Stop pissing me off, Tony. I’m under a lot of stress here. Don’t you see the three pimples I have on my forehead now?” I pointed to them so there’d be no mistake. “You know I only get zits when I’m freakin’.”
“Yes, I did notice them.” He pretended to shiver.
I smacked him, knowing he was just messing with me. The poor kid had the worst case of acne ever until last year when his mom finally took him to the dermatologist, after I forced him to beg her. At least now his problem was under control, poor kid.
Tony finally started talking again. “Okay, so let’s assume Chase is like ... an angel, or whatever – down here from the Overworld to fix a problem we Earthlings are getting ready to experience ... ”
“I think the proper term is ‘Here-and-Now-lings’.”
“Whatever. So he comes down, on orders from ... God or whoever’s in charge up there. Then he fixes the problem. That was his mission. If his mission is complete, seems to me he’d be going back to the Overworld when it’s all done. That’s what usually happens in the movies, anyway.”
“No, sometimes, like Jason Bourne, they start all over again. With the girl they love.”
Tony raised his eyebrow at me but said nothing.
“What? It’s totally romantic.”
“So you’re in love? Is that what you’re saying?”
I frowned at him. “No, stupid. Okay, so I might be in serious like – not love. I really don’t know Chase that well.”
“But he makes your heart go thunk, right?
I smiled. “Yeah. When I see him, my heart goes thunk.”
“So, you’re hoping he’ll start a new life here? With you?”
“Stop making it sound so romanticized. He’s already here, being fae. Before that he was being human. What’s so weird or big deal-ish about him just staying?”